Rybakina beats Svitolina to set Indian Wells final rematch with Sabalenka

Indian Wells, March 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina added another milestone by reaching her second Indian Wells final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over World No. 9 Elina Svitolina in 1 hour and 46 minutes.

The win marked her 12th straight victory over Top 10 opponents, a streak that began last October in Ningbo, where she also lifted the trophy.

Contesting her seventh career meeting with Svitolina, the world No. 3 was broken in her opening service game but countered with a pair of breaks to claim an opening set in which she won 19 of 21 first-serve points.

Rybakina raced out to a 4-0 double-break lead in the second set and handled a bit of turbulence before closing out the win. The always scrappy Svitolina saved match points in two consecutive games to close within a break, then held to force Rybakina to serve it out, Indian Wells reports.

The third match point was the charm for the 26-year-old, who improved to 16-3 lifetime at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and 17-3 overall in 2026. "I cannot be super happy with my performance today. I definitely need to get better before the final," said Rybakina.

She’ll now faces world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, whom she beat in both the Australian Open final earlier this year and the 2023 Indian Wells championship match.

Rybakina and Sabalenka have met 16 times, with Sabalenka holding a slim 8-7 edge.

Zoom in on their finals, however, and things look completely different. The pair have previously met in five finals, with Rybakina winning four of them — including a four-match winning streak in title matches that began in the 2023 final here in Stadium 1.

"I'm so done losing these big finals," Sabalenka said. "It felt like even though players were playing incredible tennis in those finals, I had so many opportunities that I didn't use."

Source: IANS